Newly qualified police officers at Hendon Police Training College. It is predicted there will be 15,000 fewer officers in England and Wales by 2015. Photograph: Oli Scarff/Getty Images

The number of police officers in England and Wales has fallen by 5,000 in the past year as the 20% cut in Whitehall funding takes effect, according to Home Office figures published on Thursday.

The official figures show that police numbers in the 43 forces in England and Wales have fallen by 9,625 since the general election and are more than on track to meet reliable estimates that the current round of public spending cuts will lead to a loss of at least 15,000 officers by 2015.

The figures mean the total number of police officers in England and Wales has fallen from a peak of 143,734 in March 2010 to 134,101 this March. This has been accompanied by a fall in the number of police community support officers from 16,918 to 14,393 and a drop in police civilian staff from 79,596 to 67,474 over the same period.

The latest twice-yearly Home Office police strength figures confirm claims that the 20% cut in Whitehall funding for the police was "front-loaded" into the early years of the four-year public spending settlement.

The cuts in police numbers have been most keenly felt among the ranks of constables, who have lost 3,675 officers in the past year, sergeants, who are down 894, and inspectors, who are down by 173. The number of chief officers, including chief constables, has fallen by only six to 209 in the past year. The only growth area has been in the number of volunteer "special constables" whose numbers have increased by 10%, or 1,922, to 20,343.

Only one force, Surrey, recorded an increase in its total officer strength over the past 12 months, by 89 officers or 4.7%, but it said it was recruiting because it had seen a reduction in the size of its force between 2006 and 2009, several years before the rest of the country.

All other 42 forces reported falls, with the biggest percentage drops seen in Derbyshire (down 10% or 202 officers) and Warwickshire (down 8% or 75 officers). The largest numerical drop was in the West Midlands, where there are 323 fewer officers or 4% fewer.

The overall fall in officer numbers has not disproportionately hit women or minority ethnic officers so far. The percentage of female officers rose slightly from 26.2% to 26.8% and the proportion of minority ethnic officers rose from 4.8% to 5%. The proportion of black or Asian officers has nearly doubled since 2003.

Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) has estimated that police forces plan to shed a total of 32,400 police jobs, including at least 15,000 uniformed officers, by 2015.

The policing and criminal justice minister, Nick Herbert, said: "These reductions in officer numbers are in line with HMIC predictions as a result of necessary savings by forces who are playing their part in reducing the deficit.

"However, HMIC projections also showed that 94% of officers in the frontline will remain, the proportion on the frontline is increasing and service to the public is largely being maintained.

"We inherited a situation where there were some 25,000 officers not on the frontline, so there was plenty of scope for forces to make savings while improving performance, as forces are showing as they continue to drive down crime."

Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, said: "The Tory-led government has cut nearly 10,000 police officers from communities across the country. And we know that substantially more than half are from 999, neighbourhood and traffic response – the officers we rely on in an emergency.

"These figures show the cuts to the police are deeper and faster even than experts predicted. David Cameron's promise to protect the frontline has been ripped apart by these appalling figures.

"In just two years the government has taken police numbers back by nearly a decade, weakened police powers, undermined morale and reduced crime prevention. Theresa May has no strategy to cut crime, only to cut police."